Haleakala Sunrise

The reason I got the parking permit was really to see the sunrise come up over the Haleakala Crater.  Altho I tend to say that it’s dormant, when I looked it up, it’s just classified as “normal”.  It has erupted numerous times over the past 30,000 years, with the last eruption being about 500 years ago.  The name Haleakala means “house of the sun”, and its land mass makes up about 75% of the island of Maui.  However, none of this comes to mind when you’re standing there, waiting for the sun to appear.  Pretty much all you can think about is how COLD you are, because, of course, you didn’t pack winter clothes for a trip to Maui!  Still, all the cold is worthwhile when you begin to see the opening act of the sunrise – dawn breaking.

Almost Sunrise

Now, to be honest, Jeff and I didn’t stand outside during the 2 1/2 hours between the blood moon and sunrise.  Nope – we dozed in a nice, warm Jeep!  But, we did get out about 30 minutes before the sunrise and stood in the enclosed visitors’ center for a bit.  But, for the last 20+ minutes, we were outside, so I could be sure to get an unobstructed view of the sunrise.  When the sun first made an appearance, a cheer went up!

First Peek

A great source of entertainment while waiting for the sun to more fully appear was to watch how folks were trying to keep warm.  Jeff & I weren’t dressed in winter gear, but we were dressed in layers to some extent, but some folks were wearing rather warm weather attire and then attempted to wrap themselves in the blankets they presumably took from their hotel rooms.  The woman next to us made the mistake of trying to re-wrap herself.  The wind just took that blanket and kept blowing it around, so that she wasn’t able to get it around herself again to save her soul.  At least, she didn’t turn the wrong way, so that the blanket would become a bit of a parachute and carry her away!  And, there was one macho cyclist, who only had on his short sleeve riding shirt and his biking shorts.  He stood so still I began to think he had frozen in place!! He wasn’t even wearing appropriate sunrise colors, either!

Morning Colors

One of the things I am always taken with when I see photos of the Haleakala sunrise is the detail of the clouds.  For those of you who may not know this, the sort of grey just below the sun are the clouds.  They seep into the crater and then the sun rises above them.  I don’t know of many other places where you can watch the sun rise above the clouds, unless you’re flying!  Check out the clouds in these next couple of images!

Haleakala Glory

Soft Clouds on Haleakala

As the sunrise progresses, the sun begins to fill in the detail of the crater rocks that are right in front of us.  It really gives you a sense of place, so to speak.  No, you’re not up there floating above it all!  This tends to happen at the end of the “show”, and right after this we headed back to the Jeep to try to get warm and drive down the mountain.  I thought the show was over for the morning.  Little did I know!

Crater Detail

Enjoy!